


and if you asked me if i love him (i'd lie)

by fakecharliebrown



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Attempt at Humor, Breaking and Entering, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Hinata Shouyou is Sunshine, Hinata Shouyou is a Little Shit, Kageyama Tobio is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Rain, Swearing, Team Parents Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, excessive use of the word 'dumbass', hinata breaks into kageyamas apartment? idk a lot happens here, i both can and cannot believe thats a real tag, i love that thats a tag, its all hinata blame him, like a lot of it, slander against the good name of lettuce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:54:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25275733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fakecharliebrown/pseuds/fakecharliebrown
Summary: “Okay, what the fuck,” Tobio said, upon seeing the source of the commotion in his kitchen. There, standing in front of his open window—when had he opened that?—was a guy probably several years younger than Tobio, a high schooler most likely, with bright, orange hair. He was soaked to the bone, dripping rainwater all over Tobio’s kitchen floor like he was trying to fill a new lake.The boy looked up, wide-eyed, and blurted, “This isn’t my apartment.”or; Hinata accidentally breaks into Kageyama’s apartment, starts a fire, and is deeply offended that Kageyama eats lettuce. It all seems to unravel from there.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 47
Kudos: 378





	and if you asked me if i love him (i'd lie)

**Author's Note:**

> title from i'd lie by taylor swift (:
> 
> translated into russian [here](https://ficbook.net/readfic/9678263/24885439)

It was raining. The weather app hadn’t warned Tobio for that when he woke up that morning with plans to study with his friends at the nearest library, and Tobio was feeling quite betrayed.

Tobio sighed and opened his umbrella before he set out on his walk to the library, where he and his friends were supposed to be meeting up for a study session. The library wasn’t far from Tobio’s small apartment, but it was far enough for the incessant pounding of the rain to get under his skin, making him itch uncomfortably at the place where his sleeve ended just past his knuckles. 

Yachi was standing outside under the awning, waving to him, when Tobio arrived. “Kageyama!” she chirped. “Hi! Tsukishima and Yamaguchi are already inside waiting for us!” 

Tobio hurried up the steps, closing his umbrella and shaking out the excess rainwater before he followed Yachi into the library. The blonde led him past the stacks to the place where tables were set up, and Tobio saw that his friends had chosen a table near the back corner. 

Tsukishima was leaning over slightly to look at something Yamaguchi was excitedly showing him on his phone screen, but he looked up at the sound of their approaching footsteps. Tobio waved at the same time Yachi chirped out another cheerful hello. Tsukishima merely nodded his head, quirking an eyebrow slightly before he turned to the textbook laid out in front of him. 

Yamaguchi pocketed his phone. “Hey, guys!” he greeted, as cheerful as ever. “Tsukki and I have something to tell you!” 

“Shut up, Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima said near-immediately, but he closed his book and looked up anyway. 

“Sorry, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi replied, also immediately. 

Tobio blinked. “What is it?”

“It’s not bad news, is it?” Yachi asked, blinking wide eyes at the other two. 

Yamaguchi waved a hand. “No, no, it’s nothing bad. Promise.” 

At the same time, Tsukishima said, “Yes. I’m dying. It was terrible knowing you all, please don’t come to my funeral.” 

Yamaguchi slapped his arm lightly. “Shut up, Tsukki.” 

“Sorry, Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima replied, before his face went blank. Yamaguchi looked similarly shocked, while Yachi just giggled and Tobio snorted at their expense. 

“Okay, okay, tell us already!” Yachi prompted. “I’m dying of suspense here!” 

“What the fuck, don’t kill Yachi,” Tobio said, loud enough that a passing employee shushed him.

“Shut up, Kageyama,” Tsukishima said. After a beat, he added, “Don’t even think about it.” 

The  _ Sorry, Tsukki,  _ dying on his lips, Tobio huffed and settled back in his seat. 

“Anyway,” Yamaguchi giggled, “Tsukki and I just wanted to tell you guys that we’re dating!” 

Tobio and Yachi blinked, exchanging glances. “You mean—” Yachi started.

“You guys weren’t dating already?” Tobio continued. 

Yamaguchi blinked. Tsukishima rolled his eyes and opened his books. “I should’ve known you idiots would say something stupid like that.” 

“You guys thought we were dating?” Yamaguchi asked. “For how long?” 

Tobio shrugged. “High school, I guess? You were always holding hands.”

“And hanging out!” Yachi added. 

“Childhood friends tend to do that, believe it or not,” Tsukishima drawled. “I know it’s hard for you, Kageyama, since you never had any friends.”

“Fuck you,” Tobio replied.

“No fighting!” Yachi cried. 

“Maybe we should just start studying,” Yamaguchi suggested, glancing nervously between Tobio and Tsukishima. The subject dropped, the four of them cracked open their textbooks and set to work. The only sound to be heard was the pounding of the rainwater on the ceiling, and the shuffling of the library’s other patrons. 

The rain made Tobio’s scalp itch. 

-

That evening found Tobio laying on his couch, tossing a volleyball up into the air as he thought. With Tsukishima and Yamaguchi dating each other, that made Tobio the only remaining single person in his friend group. All of his friends had coupled off ages ago, and Yachi had gotten herself a girlfriend only a few weeks ago. Tobio’s last hope had been Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, but now he was the only one left. 

He groaned when he realized that the teasing would start soon, as would the matchmaking. Noya would likely never let it go until Tobio was coupled up with someone, and he’d drag Tanaka in, too, and pretty soon everyone else would be roped into helping Tobio get a partner when he wasn’t even  _ looking  _ for one. 

A sudden crashing sound coming from the kitchen startled Tobio out of his reverie. He yelped as the volleyball came crashing down on his face, rolling off and onto the floor. Tobio stood up, grabbing a table lamp as his weapon, before he slowly made his way into the kitchen. 

“Okay, what the fuck,” Tobio said, upon seeing the source of the commotion in his kitchen. There, standing in front of his open window—when had he opened that?—was a guy probably several years younger than Tobio, a high schooler most likely, with bright, orange hair. He was soaked to the bone, dripping rainwater all over Tobio’s kitchen floor like he was trying to fill a new lake. 

The boy looked up, wide-eyed, and blurted, “This isn’t my apartment.”

Tobio blinked, the words sinking in, before he jerked. “What the fuck? Of  _ course  _ this isn’t your apartment, you fucking dumbass! What were you thinking, breaking into someone else’s apartment in the middle of a rainstorm?”

The guy had the audacity to  _ glare  _ at him, like he hadn’t just  _ broken into Tobio’s apartment.  _ “I thought it was mine! I forgot my key! What apartment even  _ is this?” _

“You don’t even know the number of the apartment you were breaking into?” Tobio exclaimed. 

“Of course not!” the guy retorted. “I thought it was mine!”

“Dumbass,” Tobio hissed. “This is 6B.” 

“Damn,” the orange guy muttered. “I’m a floor too high.” 

“ _ You’re  _ the incredibly annoying neighbor downstairs?” Tobio asked, before he could stop himself. 

“I am  _ not  _ annoying!” the orange guy cried. “I’ll have you know that the old lady who lives across the hall thinks I am a  _ delight.”  _

Tobio scowled. “The lady who lives across the hall has terrible judgement.” 

“Don’t be so rude!” Orange Guy retorted. “You don’t even know her!”

“I don’t need to,” Tobio replied. “Anybody who doesn’t think you’re annoying is wrong.” 

“Why are you so rude all the time?” Orange Guy asked. “Who hurt you?” 

“Nobody!” Tobio exclaimed, “I just don’t feel the need to be nice to idiots who  _ break into my apartment.”  _

Orange Guy huffed, crossing his arms and averting his eyes. 

“Oh, great,” Tobio drawled. “Now the kid’s pouting.”

Orange Guy jerked around, glaring at him, but Tobio cut him off before he could reply. 

“Can’t you just call one of your parents to let you into the apartment?” He raised an eyebrow. “Why do you need to break in through the window?” 

“I live  _ alone!”  _ Orange Guy cried, outraged.

Tobio blinked. “Aren’t you, like, twelve?” 

“I am  _ nineteen years old!”  _

Tobio squinted. “I don’t believe you.” 

Orange Guy had a look on his face that made Tobio feel like he’d just murdered the guy’s entire family in cold blood. “I was not asking for your belief! I don’t need to! It’s a fact!” 

Tobio sighed, rolled his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Can you just leave already?” 

“No,” Orange Guy replied immediately. “I don’t have my key and if I go back through the window I could slip.” He pouted. “Plus the rain’s so  _ cold.”  _

“What do you plan to do when the rain lets up if you don’t have a key to your own apartment and you live alone?” Tobio asked. His stomach rumbled, letting him know that it was dinner time. Heaving another sigh, Tobio turned to approach his fridge, opening it to see what he could make. Squishing, squelching footsteps approached him from behind, before he heard Orange Guy ask, “What are you looking for?” 

“Dinner, dumbass,” Tobio snapped. “For  _ me,  _ and not for you.” 

But Orange Guy wasn’t listening to him, glaring rather intensely at something in the vegetable drawer. Tobio hesitated, before he asked, “What? What are you glaring at?” 

“You have  _ lettuce?”  _ Orange Guy cried.

Tobio stared. “Yes...?”

_ “Why?”  _ Orange Guy continued, sounding so completely baffled that Tobio wondered if lettuce was another word for something scandalous he didn’t know about. 

Still, he responded, “Because it tastes good?” 

“Why would you want to eat  _ leaves?”  _ Orange Guy exclaimed. Tobio furrowed his brow. Before he could reply, Orange Guy continued, “If you want to eat leaves so bad, go find a tree! Lettuce is a waste of money! So is spinach! And—” at this, he honest to God  _ shuddered _ “ — _ kale!” _

Tobio stared at him for several long seconds, before he finally asked, “What the fuck is wrong with you?” 

Orange Guy shrieked. “What’s wrong with  _ me?  _ What’s wrong with  _ you?”  _

“Oi, dumbass!” Tobio spat. “I’m not the dumbass who broke into someone else’s apartment and started criticizing his groceries!” 

Orange Guy glared up at him. “Still with the ‘broke into your apartment thing?’ When are you gonna let that go?”

  
“ _ Never!”  _ Tobio spat. “Because you’re! Still!  _ Here _ !” 

“Don’t be so sensitive!” Orange Guy retorted. “I told you it was an accident!” 

“Normal people would  _ leave!”  _ Tobio told him. “No, scratch that—normal people wouldn’t fucking  _ break into other people’s apartments  _ to begin with!”

Orange Guy huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “You know, I’m starting to think that  _ you’re  _ the annoying neighbor here, and not me.” 

“You still haven’t told me how you’re going to get out of here,” Tobio reminded him, fighting back the urge to slap the shorter man halfway across the room. “How the fuck do you plan on going home?” 

Orange Guy waved a hand dismissively. “My friend’s got a spare key, but he doesn’t like traveling in the rain so he won’t come until tomorrow.”

Tobio could  _ feel  _ the vein bulging on his forehead. “ _ Tomorrow?”  _ He was going to kill this man in real life, dear God. He was actually going to commit real fucking murder on a real fucking person because Orange Guy was  _ so fucking stupid.  _

Orange Guy nodded, completely unaware of Tobio’s homicidal urges. “Yup, tomorrow.”

Tobio took a deep breath. His eye twitched. “You—you aren’t leaving until—I’m stuck with you for  _ twenty four hours?”  _

“I mean, probably not a full day,” Orange Guy replied easily, brushing past Tobio to root through the fridge. “But Kenma doesn’t like to get up early, so it’ll probably be sometime in the afternoon. Good thing it’s a weekend, right?” 

Tobio could only stare, stunned speechless by the amount of unbridled  _ rage  _ this tiny orange demon had just filled him with. 

“Do you like eggs in your fried rice, or nah?” Orange Guy asked, turning back to look at him.

“I do,” Tobio replied, distantly. After a second, he registered the question fully and asked, “Why?” 

Orange gave him a look that told Tobio it should’ve been obvious, despite it being a seemingly random question that came out of nowhere. “I’m going to make you dinner, of course! It’s my thank you for letting me stay here.” 

“I didn’t let you stay,” Tobio told him immediately. “You broke into my apartment.” 

Orange Guy waved a hand in that same dismissive motion again. “Semantics.” 

“Pretty fucking important details, but whatever,” Tobio huffed. “I don’t believe you know how to cook.” 

“Rude,” Orange Guy replied. “I live alone, remember? I can make something as simple as fried rice, believe it or not.” 

Tobio just watched as the smaller boy pulled out several more ingredients, setting them on the counter, before he grabbed the rice and started to prepare the rest of the meal. Slowly, and still feeling like he was living a nightmare, Tobio walked over to the kitchen table and sat down heavily, staring with wide, unseeing eyes at the tabletop.

After an uncertain amount of time passed, in which Tobio fantasized about murdering Orange Guy in cold blood, he became aware of the scent of smoke wafting over from the stove-top. He frowned and lifted his head, only to see that Orange Guy had been backlit by a raging inferno billowing up from the pan he’d been using to make the fried rice. When he had started a fire, Tobio wasn’t entirely sure. 

“I’m going to kill you,” Tobio informed him. 

“Yeah,” Orange Guy replied, “that’s fair.”

-

After the fire had been put out and Orange Guy had been forced to order and pay for takeout for the two of them, Tobio vacated to the living room and picked up his volleyball again, tossing it to the ceiling repeatedly. Orange Guy trailed into the living room a moment later, sitting himself down on the floor and leaning against the wall. Tobio glared at him, raising an eyebrow. 

“Why the fuck are you sitting on the floor?” he demanded. “What’s wrong with you?” 

Orange Guy blinked. “Geez, take a chill pill, dude. I’m sitting here because I’m still wet and I don’t wanna ruin your furniture.” 

Tobio squinted at him for a minute, before he sighed heavily and stood up, leaving the volleyball on his couch. “Don’t fucking move, I don’t wanna lose my deposit on this shitty apartment.” 

Orange Guy pouted but didn’t say anything, pulling his knees up to his chest. Tobio frowned down at him for a moment before he rolled his eyes and headed for his bedroom. He  _ probably  _ had something in here that would fit the orange demon, but it would be buried in the back of his closet after years of disuse. 

It took him several minutes, but eventually Tobio had produced a pair of drawstring sweatpants and what was probably the smallest shirt he currently owned. He exited his bedroom with his finds, heading for the living room once more. Orange Guy was sitting exactly where he’d left him, with his head tipped back and leaning against the wall. 

“Oi, dumbass,” Tobio called. Orange Guy blinked up at him, his eyes darting once down to the bundle of clothes in Tobio's hands before rising back to his face. “Bathroom’s the door on the left down that hall. Don’t get fucking hypothermia or something.”

He tossed the clothes to Orange Guy, who gaped up at him for several moments before he grinned. “Thanks! I knew you liked me!” 

“I fucking hate you more than I’ve ever hated anything in my entire fucking life,” Tobio seethed, as Orange Guy giggled and borderline-skipped down the hall. Tobio dug the heels of his hands into his eyes, pressing until colorful spots danced across his eyelids. He sighed so heavily that he felt the exhale grating against his throat. 

Orange Guy returned a moment later, poking at his phone with one hand and holding his still-wet clothes with the other. He set his clothes down on the floor where he’d been sitting a moment ago, discarding his phone atop the pile before he sat down on the other end of the couch, turning so that his back rested against the armrest and he was facing Tobio, once again with his knees pulled up to his chest. He grinned at Tobio, sunny and bright. “So!” he chirped. He sounded like Yachi, mixed with Yamaguchi, but Tobio could never see either of his friends being quite as infuriating as Orange Guy was. “What are we gonna do?” 

Tobio grunted. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

Orange Guy poked him in the side with his foot, whining an obnoxious high note. “Come on, we have to do something to pass the time! I can’t go home for a whole day.” 

“Tragic,” Tobio deadpanned, refusing to look over at Orange Guy and instead bouncing his volleyball off of the floor. Orange Guy poked him again, several times, until finally Tobio growled and spat, “ _ What?”  _

Orange Guy had the audacity to smile innocently up at him. “Let’s play a game!” 

Tobio rolled his eyes. “No.” 

“Please?” Orange Guy wheedled, dragging out the word. 

“No,” Tobio said again, this time pulling out his phone to check his notifications. He’d gotten several texts from his friends over the past hour or so, but it wasn’t anything particularly interesting, so Tobio sighed bitterly and tossed his phone onto the coffee table. That was one less excuse to ignore Orange Guy. 

“You’re so lame,” Orange Guy huffed. “I bet all of your neighbors hate you.” 

“My neighbors don’t hate me, dumbass,” Tobio snapped. 

“I bet if I asked one of them they’d say yes,” Orange Guy countered.

“If you leave this apartment I am not letting you back in,” Tobio warned him. “Then you’ll really be in trouble.” 

“You’re mean,” Orange Guy pouted. “ _ And _ you’re no fun. Do you even have any friends?”

“Of course I have friends,” Tobio retorted. 

Orange Guy poked him. “Prove it.” 

“No.” 

Poke. “Prove it.”

“No, fuck off.” 

Another poke. “C’mon, I won’t believe you until I see proof.” 

“I’ll kill you.” 

Poke, poke,  _ poke.  _ “Prove it, prove it, prove—”

“Shut the fuck up!” Tobio roared, grabbing Orange Guy by the ankle and holding his foot away from Tobio’s rib-cage, where he’d been poking quite incessantly. “And stop fucking  _ poking me!”  _

Orange Guy tugged on his ankle, like a dog or some other animal, and stuck his tongue out at Tobio. “I can’t believe you’re allergic to fun,” he said, simpering suddenly. “That’s so sad.” 

“I’m going to kill you in real life,” Tobio declared, scowling so deep it sent a twinge of pain up his jaw. “Don’t ever fucking talk to me again.” 

Orange Guy opened his mouth, before he frowned and closed it again. “I was gonna make fun of you, but I realized that I don’t know your name.” 

Tobio grunted. “Good.”

“Come on,” Orange Guy whined. “Tell me your name!” 

“No,” Tobio told him, reaching for his phone again. From this distance, it looked like it had been blowing up—someone probably started texting in the groupchat again. He wondered what the drama was this time, or if Tanaka and Noya were simply spamming memes again. 

Orange Guy poked him once more, but this time Tobio simply batted his foot away, too preoccupied with unlocking his phone to truly care about the nuisance. According to the group-chat, Noya had caught Daichi and Suga making out, and the two men in question had confessed that they were dating. Fucking finally. Tobio sent his own two cents (“fucking finally,” word for word), before he pulled up social media in an attempt to further ignore Orange Guy.

“How do your friends put up with you?” Orange Guy wondered. “You’re so mean, and you’re such a buzzkill.” 

“How do your friends put up with you?” Tobio parroted, pitching his voice higher to mock the orange demon. “You’re so fucking annoying.” 

Orange Guy huffed. “If we’re stuck together for the night, we might as well get to know each other.” 

Tobio wrinkled his nose. “Pass.”

“Bold of you to assume I was giving you a choice.” Abruptly, the phone was yanked out of Tobio’s hands and tossed across the room, where it landed with a clatter on the cheap floors. Tobio shifted his shell-shocked stare to glare up at Orange Guy. 

“What the fuck did you do that for, dumbass?” he demanded. “If that’s broken, I’m billing you for the replacement.” 

Orange Guy waved a hand, rolling his eyes. “Your phone is  _ fine.  _ Take a chill pill, his royal highness.” 

“I could strangle you right now,” Tobio hissed. 

Orange Guy just waved his hand again. “Yeah, yeah, you wanna kill me,  _ anyway,  _ let’s talk about something actually interesting.” 

Tobio sighed, resigning himself to an annoying evening, and sat back against the couch cushions as Orange Guy reclaimed his place at the other end of the sofa. “Like what?” 

Orange Guy hummed, tapping a finger against his chin thoughtfully before he grinned. “Let’s play truth or dare!”

“No,” Tobio said immediately. He hadn’t played in years, not since high school, but he recalled the game as being horrifically chaotic.

Orange Guy pouted. “Okay, fine. Twenty questions.” 

Tobio squinted at him, but Orange Guy didn’t seem to have any obvious ill intentions, so he simply sighed. “Fine, whatever. You start.” 

Orange Guy cheered, pumping a fist in the air, before he flashed Tobio a bright smile. “What’s your name?” 

“Kageyama Tobio,” Tobio replied. “Yours?”

“Boo,” Orange Guy replied, “you can’t just take my question as your turn, that’s boring. And it’s Hinata Shouyou.” 

Tobio rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” he said. He tacked on a quick, “Dumbass,” for good measure. 

Hinata didn’t seem bothered, the sun in his smile never dimming. “Alright, next! Hmm, let me think.” He made a big show of considering the next question, before he asked, “What would you name the autobiography of your life?” 

“What the fuck,” Tobio said eloquently. 

Hinata snorted. “You’d name your autobiography ‘what the fuck?’” 

Tobio scowled. “No, dumbass! It was just a weird question.”

Hinata giggled. “Okay, okay, fine, if that’s not it, then what  _ would  _ you name it?” 

Tobio paused for a minute. “I don’t know,” he finally said. “Probably something like, ‘Don’t Read This, It’s Not Interesting.’”

Hinata poked him again. “You should be more confident. I’m sure your life is plenty interesting!”

“Yeah,” Tobio drawled, “it was pretty wild when an orange demon fucking  _ broke into my apartment  _ and then  _ set my stove on fire.”  _

Hinata pouted. “I bought you dinner to make up for it.”

Tobio just stared. 

Hinata moved to poke him, but Tobio batted his foot away. “It’s your turn.”

“I know,” Tobio spat. “Fine. Fucking—I don’t know—what’s your favorite color?”

Hinata tilted his head to the side. “You’re not very good at this game, are you?”

Tobio sneered. “I’m plenty good at it, dumbass! You’re the one asking weird questions!”

Hinata just laughed at him. “My favorite color is probably yellow. Or green, I guess. I never really think about it.” He paused for a moment, before he asked, “Do you think chocolate milk comes from brown cows?” 

Tobio was once again rendered speechless. “How fucking stupid are you? Of course not!”

Hinata squinted at him, but, for once, didn’t seem to have an infuriating comment to reply with. 

Tobio huffed. “What’s your favorite food?”

Hinata grinned. “Tamago kake gohan,” he replied easily. “If you could be a dinosaur, what kind would you be?” 

Tobio sighed. This was going to be a very long game. 

-

Hinata was gone when Tobio awoke the next morning, though he’d left a note and folded Tobio’s clothes on the coffee table. Apparently, one of Hinata’s other friends had taken the spare key from the one called Kenma, and had been able to let him in earlier. In addition to the note, Tobio noticed, Hinata had apparently swiped all of Tobio’s lettuce, despite his severe aversion to it the night before. It wasn’t until he opened his trash that he realized Hinata had actually thrown it out. In its place in the fridge, he left another note that simply read  _ you’re welcome.  _ With a smiley-face scribbled next to it and everything.

By the time Tobio left his house to go meet up with a friend at a nearby cafe, he’d cycled through more than ten murder plots for Hinata, critiquing some and filing others away for possible use later on. 

“Well, someone looks grumpy,” Suga said brightly as soon as Tobio took his seat, and Tobio seriously considered turning around and going home. “What’s bugging you, Kageyama?” 

“Someone broke into my apartment last night,” Tobio said, sipping his coffee. He winced as the liquid burned his tongue, setting the cup back down on the table. Suga’s eyes widened comically. 

“What?” he asked. “Kageyama, details!” 

Tobio rolled his eyes. “That’s not even the worst part,” he continued. “The dumbass broke into my apartment, and then  _ he didn’t leave.  _ Also, he lit the stove on fire trying to make rice.” 

Suga gaped. 

“I know, right?” Tobio huffed. “Apparently he lives in the apartment below me, or something, and he lost his key, but still. Fucking dumbass wouldn’t leave me alone all night.” 

“Well,” Suga said, chuckling softly. “You certainly had a wild night.” 

Tobio grunted. “I mean, it’s not like I got caught making out in someone else’s apartment, or anything.” 

Suga grinned. “Ah, I was waiting for that comment. If you had a boyfriend who looked like Daichi, I think you’d understand my plight.” 

“Gross,” Tobio said. “You’re like the mom of the group, I don’t wanna hear about that.” 

Suga just laughed. “Anyway, back to your intruder. How come you didn’t just kick him out?” 

Tobio shrugged. “I mean, he’s  _ technically  _ my neighbor. Plus, he wouldn’t let me.” He scowled. “He threw out my lettuce before he left this morning.”

“Did you ask him to?” Suga asked, sipping his own drink. It smelled faintly of some sort of tea leaves, though Tobio couldn't place which.

“ _ No,”  _ Tobio insisted. “He’s just an ass, in addition to being a dumbass.”

“So vulgar,” Suga said, hiding a smile in the rim of his cup. 

Tobio leveled him with a flat look. 

Suga laughed again. “Well, keep me updated. I have a feeling your adventure with this intruder hasn’t ended yet.”

“It better have,” Tobio huffed, “or I might  _ actually  _ kill him, instead of just thinking about it.” 

-

When Tobio returned to his apartment, there was a small gift bag sitting on the welcome mat Yachi had forced upon him, a small note attached to its handle. Frowning, Tobio picked up the bag and peered inside of it, only to find a few apples sitting innocently on a bed of tissue paper. He pulled the note free, unfolding it to see if it gave him any hints as to who this strange gift had been from. 

_ Something to eat instead of those glorified leaves (:  _ was scrawled on the page in what appeared to be glittery, green ink, and Tobio felt rage burn within him. He was going to commit murder, there was literally nothing holding him back anymore. Beneath the note, he spotted a phone number written on the paper, and he immediately shoved into his apartment, already pulling up a text to the phone number. 

_ [14:43] You: literally what the fuck is wrong with you. im going to kill you in real life _

The reply was almost instantaneous. 

_ [14:43] orange demon: why D: all i did was offer u some better alternatives to leaves!! do u not like fruit?? _

_ [14:44] You: i hate you so much never text me again _

_ [14:44] orange demon: ahaha but u texted first u know _

_ [14:45] You: im blocking this number _

Scowling, Tobio stomped over to the garbage can in the kitchen and dumped the entire bag into the trash, slamming it closed. He stared up at the ceiling, taking a deep breath and counting backwards from ten in an effort to regain his patience before he actually went downstairs and committed murder. 

After several minutes, Tobio felt his temper cooling and he sighed, running a hand through his hair before he pulled up a text to Suga. 

_ [14:51] You: you were right, that dumbass left me a bag of apples on my fucking doormat as an “alternative to those glorified leaves” _

_ [14:52] suga: that’s the greatest thing i’ve heard all day, thank you for sharing this vital piece of information _

_ [14:52] You: is it a crime to move before your lease is up _

-

“So,” Noya started, the next time Tobio agreed to go out with Noya and Tanaka. Dread settled in the pit of Tobio’s stomach at the tone in Noya’s voice. “I heard you’ve got a guy leaving you gifts on your doormat.”

Tanaka gasped dramatically and loudly. “Kageyama!” he cried. “You have a significant other?”

Tobio took a moment to internally curse Suga and wish ill-intent upon him before he turned to respond to Noya. “I have a significant annoyance,” he corrected, “who broke into my apartment and refused to leave.”

Noya and Tanaka stared for several seconds before simultaneously breaking into hysterical fits of laughter. Tobio rolled his eyes as his friends doubled over, clutching their stomachs and wheezing with the force of their laughter. By the time Noya began to sober up, Tanaka still laughing his ass off, at least five minutes had passed and the three of them were getting strange looks from the convenience store’s other patrons. 

“Are you deadass right now?” Noya asked. “That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard, oh, my God.” 

Tobio sighed. “Yes, I’m serious. And it’s not funny, it’s really fucking annoying.” He frowned. “That orange demon’s, like, morally against the existence of lettuce, and he keeps leaving me random food items to eat as an alternative.” 

“Nice, free food!” Noya crowed. 

Tobio blinks. “No, I throw it away.” 

Tanaka sobered at that. “What the hell, dude? Why would you throw away  _ free food?”  _

“Accepting gifts from the man who broke into my apartment and lit my stove on fire goes against my moral code,” Tobio told them seriously, only frowning a little when the comments sent them off into peals of laughter once again. He was reminded of why he didn’t hang around the two of them alone very much as they got even more dirty looks from passersby for disturbing the peace in the convenience store, pulling out his phone in an effort to pretend he didn’t know them.

There were several messages from the group-chat, which Tobio tapped open to scan while Noya and Tanaka began to calm down. 

_ [16:16] suga: i fell down the stairs at my moms house D: _

_ [16:16] suga: i mean im not seriously hurt but still ): whoever has my voodoo doll clearly isnt being very nice to it ): _

Tobio didn’t feel vindicated. Really, he didn’t. 

(Okay, maybe a little.)

-

Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Yachi were with him the next time Tobio found a gift from Hinata on his doormat. Yachi noticed it first, exclaiming a surprised, “Oh!” at the same time Yamaguchi asked, “Hey, what’s that?”

Tobio followed their line of sight to his doormat, groaning at the sight of the gaudy, sparkly orange and yellow gift bag. There was another note on it, as always, and Tobio picked up the bag and glanced inside to find a plastic package of store-bought muffins. The note this time read:  _ I’m moving away from fruit, since you don’t seem to like that, but I haven’t given up yet :D _

Tobio hated him. So very, very much. “Here,” he said, thrusting the muffins toward Yachi, who took them with a surprised little squeak. “You like muffins, right?”

“Yeah, but why do you have them?” Yachi replied.

Tobio grunted, pulling out his keys to unlock the door and let his friends inside. The study session was at his place today, seeing as he lived closest to the library they usually frequented, which was unfortunately closed for repairs. “I would’ve thought you’d hear about it from Suga by now.”

“Hear about what?” Yamaguchi asked.

“Shut up, Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima said, following Tobio inside once the door was open. 

“Sorry, Tsukki.”

Tobio rolled his eyes. “Long story short, some idiot broke into my apartment, got offended that I eat lettuce, and now won’t stop giving me random foods to eat instead of lettuce.” 

Yachi giggled. “That’s like a meet-cute! Kageyama, you’re living a rom-com!”

Tsukishima frowned. “Have you forgotten this person broke into his apartment? I would’ve thought committing a crime would void any chances of this playing out like a romantic comedy.”

“Ah, Tsukki, just say rom-com like everyone else, would you?” Yamaguchi teased. 

“Shut up, Yamaguchi.”

“Sorry, Tsukki.”

“Even if the crime wasn’t enough, he’s incredibly annoying, which takes all of the romance out of this,” Tobio huffed. “And it’s not funny, so it can’t possibly be a rom-com.”

“So, what are you gonna do?” Yachi asked, already opening the muffins. She offered one to Yamaguchi, who took it with a soft smile and a quiet thanks. 

Tobio frowned. “What do you mean?”

“What’s your response going to be?” Yachi elaborated, unwrapping her muffin. “Ooh, I love chocolate chip!”

Tobio furrowed his brow. 

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. “How are you going to get back at him, dumbass?”

“Oh,” Tobio said. “I don’t know, I hadn’t thought of that. He doesn’t really take no for an answer.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Tsukishima drawled. “He hates lettuce, right?” 

Tobio nodded. “Yeah, but how does that—”

“Give him a head of lettuce,” Tsukishima said. 

Tobio blinked. Once. Twice. Why didn’t he think of that?

“Because you’re an idiot,” Tsukishima told him. Oh, Tobio must’ve said that out loud. 

“Tsukki, don’t be mean,” Yamaguchi chastised. 

“Shut up, Yamaguchi.”

“Sorry, Tsukki.”

\- 

Approximately three hours after Tobio left a head of lettuce in a paper bag on Hinata’s doormat, his phone lit up with a text notification. 

_ [17:09] orange demon: WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE ME A LETTUCE _

_ [17:09] orange demon: I KNEW YOU WERE MEAN BUT I DIDNT THINK YOU WERE CRUEL _

_ [17:09] orange demon: WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO U WTF _

_ [17:10] You: i assumed it was obvious _

_ [17:10] You: you’ve been leaving me so many nice things, i was only repaying the favor (: _

_ [17:10] orange demon: oh so that’s what we’re going to do today? we’re gonna fight? _

_ [17:11] orange demon: unlock ur fucking door im gonna punch you right in ur stupid face _

_ [17:12] You: why would i unlock my door for that? _

_ [17:12] orange demon: because i know how to break in and you dont want to lose your deposit (: _

_ [17:13] You: fuck you _

“You text so aggressively, and yet your door was still unlocked for me,” Hinata teased in a sing-song voice as soon as he entered Tobio’s apartment. Tobio just sighed heavily.

“I hate you,” he said. “Just letting you know that.” 

“I know,” Hinata chirped. “Now get up so I can punch you.”

Tobio didn’t move, holding eye contact with Hinata. Hinata’s smile faltered for less than a second before he shrugged. 

“Okay, fine,” he said. “Guess I’ll just punch you while you’re sitting down.”

“It’s not like you could actually reach my face if I was standing up,” Tobio replied. A second later, pain bloomed across his jaw and his eyes widened at the same time Hinata shrieked in what sounded like horror. 

“Oh, God, I’m so sorry!” he cried. “I really didn’t mean to, I swear!”

“You fucking  _ punched me?”  _ Tobio exclaimed, holding a hand over the sore spot on his jaw.

Hinata whined. “I wasn’t going to, and then you made a comment about my height and my fist was moving before I could think about it! It’s your fault, really!”

“It is  _ not  _ my fault, what the fuck,” Tobio retorted. “What is  _ wrong  _ with you?” 

_ “So much!”  _ Hinata cried. “I’m so sorry, I’ve never punched anyone before, I wasn’t gonna punch you, I’m  _ sorry!”  _

And then, as the absurdity of the situation and the fact that Hinata sounded close to tears dawned on Tobio, he began to laugh. Hinata’s tearful apologies cut short at the sound of Tobio’s laughter, Hinata making a vague noise of confusion in response. 

“I don’t get it,” Hinata said. “What’s so funny?” 

“You just walked all the way up to my apartment,” Tobio wheezed in between bouts of laughter, “and  _ punched me,  _ over a fucking head of lettuce in a brown paper bag.”

As he dissolved into laughter once more, Hinata smiled and chuckled. It wasn’t long before the two of them were near-hysterical, laughing and wheezing in the middle of Tobio’s living room. By the time they calmed down, Hinata was wiping away tears and there was a painful stitch in Tobio’s side that didn’t seem like it was going to let up any time soon. 

“We’re really weird, aren’t we?” Hinata asked, sighing happily. Tobio looked up at him, at his sunshine smile and the gleeful glint in his eyes, and he felt a sense of contentment wash over him. He liked seeing Hinata happy, especially when the other had been close to tears not fifteen minutes ago. 

Wait. Rewind. 

He  _ liked seeing Hinata happy?  _ That couldn’t be right; he hated Hinata. 

Brushing the disturbing realization aside for the moment, Tobio flexed his jaw and winced at the spike of pain it caused. “God, Suga’s gonna have a field day with this,” he muttered. Hinata perked up.

“Suga?” he echoed. 

Tobio glanced up. “Yeah, why?”

“As in Sugawara?” Hinata continued. “Sugawara Koushi?”

“That’s the one,” Tobio confirmed. “Why? Do you know him?” 

Hinata’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Yeah! He’s my grocery-shopping buddy!”

Tobio blinked. “He goes with you when you go grocery shopping?”

“Yep!” Hinata chirped. “We both go once a week at the same time to stock up! It’s fun!”

“So, he’s been with you when you bought all the stuff you gave me?” Tobio asked. Hinata nodded. “Excuse me for a moment,” Tobio said, pulling out his phone to send a quick message to his friend.

_ [17:34] You: im going to kill you in real life _

Without bothering to wait for a response, Tobio shut off his phone and set it down beside him on the couch. When he looked up again, he saw that Hinata appeared to be fretting over Tobio’s bruised jaw from a distance. 

“Ah, I should get you some ice,” he mumbled. “Where do you keep your ice? Never mind, I’ll find it.” With that, he fled to the kitchen, leaving Tobio alone in the living room. Tobio frowned and glanced at the place Hinata had disappeared to.

Several minutes later, Hinata returned with a plastic bag full of ice cubes, as well as a kitchen towel. He first pressed the towel to Tobio’s face before he held the ice up against it, the chill seeping down to Tobio’s skin after a few moments. They were standing much closer together than they had been a moment ago, before Hinata went to fetch the ice. Tobio instinctively reached up to place his hands on Hinata’s waist to steady him, as Hinata bent over him slightly, standing in between Tobio’s legs. Hinata stiffened at the contact, glancing down at him with wide eyes. It took Tobio a second to register what he’d done, but he yanked his hands away like he’d been burned when it did sink in. 

“Shit, I’m sorry,” he blurted. “I don’t know why I did that.” 

“It’s—it’s okay,” Hinata replied. “At least you didn’t, like, punch me or something.”

Tobio chuckled, but it felt stiff and awkward even to his own ears. Hinata’s phone went off, startling the both of them as the orange-haired boy pulled it out and swiped it open to check his notification. 

“Sorry, I have to go,” Hinata said. He grabbed one of Tobio’s hands and lifted it to hold the ice in place against his cheek. “I’m really sorry about your face.” He paused in the doorway to Tobio’s apartment, pressing his lips into a thin line and appearing to consider his words before he shot Tobio a smile and said, “Never get me a head of lettuce again or I really will kill you!” 

And then he was gone, and Tobio was alone, and Tobio was  _ so gay.  _ Fuck.

Tobio picked up his phone without looking down, unlocking it and pulling up Suga’s contact. 

Suga picked up after the third ring.  _ “Well, I hope you’re calling to apologize. You know, I don’t generally like it when people start conversations with death threats.”  _

“Suga, I am  _ so gay,”  _ Tobio rushed out, and he heard Suga pause on the other end of the line. 

_ “Okay?”  _ he replied. “ _ What brought this on?”  _

“Hinata punched me on accident,” Tobio told him, “and then he was all sorry and he got me some ice and he pressed it to my face and he was standing in between my legs and I put my hands on his waist and—he has a really nice laugh when it isn’t at my expense, did you know that? Anyway, we laughed and we talked and I’m really gay for the idiot who punched me over a head of lettuce and short joke. What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?” 

Suga was quiet for several long seconds before he uttered,  _ “Holy shit.”  _

Tobio scowled. “Helpful. Thanks so much.” 

Suga laughed. “ _ You have to give me a second to process that big bowl of word salad you’ve just given me, Kageyama. That’s a lot to take in.” _

“I  _ know,”  _ Tobio spat. “It just hit me, too, why do you think I called you?” 

Suga hummed.  _ “Well, it seems like Hinata has a fixation on food, no? At least, a vast majority of your relationship is centered around it.” _

Tobio grunted. “Yeah, so?”

_ “When you ask him out, you should incorporate that detail somehow,”  _ Suga suggested.  _ “Maybe find out his favorite food and buy it for him.”  _

Tobio spluttered. “ _ What?  _ You want me to  _ ask him out?”  _

Suga paused.  _ “Is that...not why you called?” _

“Of course not!” Tobio exclaimed. 

_ “Then, what are you going to do now that you’ve realized your feelings, if it isn’t asking him out?”  _

“Suga, please,” Tobio replied. “Don’t ask stupid questions. I’m going to ignore my feelings until either A: they go away or B: I die.”

Suga sighed.  _ “That’s not healthy, Kageyama.”  _

“Says the guy who had a crush on Daichi, for, like, three years before he did anything about it.”

_ “Okay, two things. First, I had a crush on him for  _ four  _ years, if you’re going to insult me at least try to be accurate. Second, rude. Also, this is not about me.” _

“That’s three things,” Tobio pointed out.

_ “I can and will block this number, Kageyama.” _

“Okay, okay, sorry,” Tobio said. “What should I do?”

_ Suga made a vague noise. “I mean, I guess you should try to be his friend, before you take the relationship further. Get to know him, and stuff.” _

“How do I do that?” Tobio asked. 

_ “You’re a big boy, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”  _

“Helpful,” Tobio deadpanned. Suga just laughed at him and promised to text him later, before hanging up and leaving Tobio alone with his thoughts once again.

Tobio sighed, turning his gaze to the ceiling. His jaw ached. “Catching feelings for the man who broke into my apartment goes against my moral code,” he said to no one in particular. The apartment did not offer him a response.

-

Tobio blinked himself out of a daydream at the sound of phone going off. He frowned and picked it up, only to see several messages from Hinata. 

_ [12:07] orange demon: kageyamaaaaaaaaaaa _

_ [12:07] orange demon: suga wont go grocery shopping with me ): he says he already went w his bf )): _

_ [12:08] orange demon: why would he leave me all alone like this ))): i thought he loved me )))): _

_ [12:09] You: can’t you just go grocery shopping alone?  _

_ [12:09] orange demon: ive been told i get too excited about the bakery section and am permanently banned from shopping alone _

_ [12:09] orange demon: for the safety of my own bank account _

_ [12:10] You: why are you telling me this? _

_ [12:10] orange demon: COME TO THE GROCERY STORE W ME PLS _

_ [12:11] orange demon: pls pls pls ;-; _

_ [12:12] You: whatever _

Nearly immediately after Tobio hit send, there was a knock on his door. He frowned, standing up and crossing to open the door, only to find Hinata staring up at him with a broad grin on his face.

Tobio raised an eyebrow. “Dumbass, were you just standing here texting and waiting for me to say yes?”

Hinata’s grin widened. “Yep!” 

_ He really has no shame,  _ Tobio mused.

Hinata clapped his hands together. “C’mon, time’s a-wastin’!”

Tobio rolled his eyes and huffed, stepping back into his apartment slightly to put on his shoes and grab his keys, wallet, and phone, before he rejoined Hinata in the hallway.

“Do you even have a grocery list of what you need?” Tobio asked, as Hinata led the way toward the staircase. 

Hinata’s smile didn’t falter for even a second. “Nope!” he replied. “I just go off of memory and hope for the best!” 

“You’re so fucking stupid,” Tobio told him, grabbing the shorter male by the elbow and dragging him toward the fifth floor’s hall. “What if you forget something important?” 

“Wh—hey, where are we going?” Hinata asked. Tobio ignored him, continuing to pull him down the hall until they reached the door to apartment 5B. 

“Don’t be a dumbass,” Tobio snapped. “We’re going to make you a proper grocery list. You know, those lists actually help you not buy things you don’t need, so maybe you can do things for yourself for once in your fucking life.” 

Hinata just laughed, unlocking his door and letting Tobio into the apartment. The apartment itself looked a lot like Tobio’s in terms of layout, though it was filled to the brim with tchotchkes and knick-knacks, making it look a lot more lived in than Tobio’s ever had. The couch was draped in blankets, at least one of them appearing to be handmade, while the others were clearly well-loved and oft-used. There was an old scented candle on his coffee table, melted halfway down the jar that left a lingering scent of vanilla. 

“Kageyama,” Hinata called from the kitchen, dragging out the last syllable of his name. “How do I make a grocery list?” 

Tobio jerked out of his reverie, heading toward the kitchen. “Are you kidding me? You don’t even know  _ how  _ to make a grocery list? How are you still  _ alive _ ?” 

Hinata shrugged. “Probably has something to do with Suga. I’d die without him.”

“You’re hopeless,” Tobio huffed. “Completely, totally, utterly hopeless.”

“I’m sure you’re right, but why?” Hinata asked, tilting his head to the side like a confused puppy. 

Tobio stared at him, willing away the butterflies in his stomach, and sighed heavily. He felt a little like a slowly deflating balloon. “You shouldn’t have to rely on somebody else to be a functioning adult,” he declared. In a quieter voice, he added, “Especially when that person is barely a functioning adult as it is.”

“Hey, Suga’s a functioning adult!” Hinata protested. 

“To you maybe,” Tobio retorted. “Everyone seems functional to someone who’s so useless he can’t even make his own fucking grocery list.” 

Hinata huffed, pouting, but Tobio could tell by the sparkle of mirth in his eyes that he wasn’t really offended. “Fine, fine, Mr. Responsible Adult, please tell me how to make a grocery list.” 

“It’s not even that hard,” Tobio told him. “You just get a piece of paper and write down everything you need. You should write down the things you’re low on, too, so that you don’t run out before you got to the grocery store again.” 

“Ooh, so smart and responsible,” Hinata teased, already rummaging through his drawers for a pad of paper and a pen. “You must be so much fun at parties.” 

Tobio rolled his eyes and scoffed, refusing to dignify the comment with a response. Hinata hummed a happy little tune under his breath, muttering a proud, “Ah, here it is,” when he found a pad of paper. He pulled out that same glittery, green pen he’d been using to write notes to Tobio and set to work puttering around his kitchen in search of whatever he might need. After about five minutes, he turned to Tobio and presented his list with a proud grin on his face. 

“How does it look?” he asked, holding the paper so close to Tobio’s face that it was too close for his eyes to properly focus on. 

Tobio grunted and grabbed his wrist, forcefully lowering the pad of paper so that he could actually read it. He scanned the list quickly, noting that everything on the list seemed reasonable. He also noticed that Hinata had made tiny notes for himself, like  _ don’t forget to get the good brand of soy sauce _ and  _ check the apples for bruises. _ It was kind of endearing, if Tobio was being honest. 

He shook his head to clear his thoughts as Hinata fidgeted, impatiently waiting for Tobio’s judgement. “Whatever,” Tobio muttered. “It looks fine. Let’s just get this over with, alright?” 

Hinata cheered, pumping a fist in the air as he ripped the paper free from its pad and tucked both the pad and the pen back into the drawer he’d taken them out of. Abruptly, he grabbed Tobio’s wrist and dragged him back over to the front door, pulling him out of the apartment and into the hallway. They were halfway down the staircase between the fourth and fifth floors before Hinata seemed to register just what he’d done, and he dropped Tobio’s wrist like it was burning hot. Tobio tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket, huffing and avoiding eye contact. His face felt uncomfortably warm; he hoped Hinata couldn’t see the obvious blush that must’ve been painted across his cheeks. 

The two of them walked in silence all the way down to the lobby, but Hinata seemed to get over his awkwardness as soon as they’d stepped out into the afternoon sunlight outside their apartment complex. He grinned and linked elbows with Tobio, beginning to ramble a story about who Tobio assumed was a friend of his, though he didn’t recognize the name. Tobio was only half-listening, gazing around at their surroundings as they walked. After a while, Tobio realized he didn’t recognize their location and he glanced down at Hinata. 

“Where are we going?” he asked, accidentally cutting Hinata’s story short. “I thought the grocery store was closer to the apartment.” 

“Yeah, but I don’t like that one,” Hinata replied. “Plus, the one we’re going to is in between here and Suga’s place, so it’s more convenient.”

“How the fuck is that more convenient for us when  _ Suga isn’t even here?”  _ Tobio demanded. Hinata just hummed and patted Tobio’s upper arm. 

“You shouldn’t focus so much on the destination,” he said. “Stop and smell the roses before they all wither and die and you’re left with a bunch of icky weeds.” 

Tobio snorted. “I’m pretty sure that’s not how the saying goes.” 

Hinata gasped theatrically. “Kageyama!” he squealed. “Did you just  _ laugh?”  _

Tobio stiffened. “What? No. Of course not; you would actually have to say something funny for me to laugh, and you wouldn't know humor if it slapped you across the face with a wet trout.”

Hinata wrinkled his nose. “Why a wet trout? Couldn’t humor be slapping me with something more appealing?” 

Tobio raised an eyebrow, fighting the shit-eating grin that wanted to spread across his face. “Oh?” he asked innocently. “Would you prefer to be slapped with some lettuce, instead?”

Hinata’s entire face slackened for several seconds in what Tobio could only describe as abject horror, before he shrieked loud enough to draw the attention of a young woman walking past the two of them on the other side of the street. He wrestled himself free from where he and Tobio had linked their elbows. “How could you  _ say  _ that?” Hinata cried. “You’re so  _ mean _ , Kageyama! I don’t even know why I hang around you.” 

“Feel free to stop,” Tobio drawled. Hinata opened his mouth to reply, but Tobio cut him off and pointed to the storefront they were walking past. “Is that where we’re going?” 

Hinata closed his opened mouth and turned to follow Tobio’s finger. He brightened at the sight of the cheerful awning over the grocery store’s door, grabbing Tobio by the hand this time—the  _ hand,  _ he was holding Tobio’s  _ hand— _ as he took off in what felt like a dead sprint toward the doors. “This is it!” he cheered. “I love this place!” 

The door slid open automatically, revealing what seemed to be an ordinary grocery store, in Tobio’s opinion. The only thing out of the ordinary that he noticed were the signs above each aisle, as well as the signs above the check-out lines—all of the signs were painted in bright, pastel colors and each one had a cute decal in the corner, ranging from a big heart to the face of a happy teddy bear. In short, it looked exactly like the sort of place that Hinata would enjoy, given his borderline childish attitude and the coziness of his home. 

“Where do we start?” Tobio asked, once he’d finished cataloging the store. Hinata shrugged, pulling his crumpled up grocery list out of his pocket. 

“The first thing on the list is milk,” he said. 

“Give me that,” Tobio demanded, holding out his free hand for Hinata to give him the list. Hinata obliged immediately, and Tobio took a moment to scan the list once again before he lifted his head and glanced around. The first aisle boasted that it sold spices and sauces that didn’t require refrigeration, so Tobio started in that direction. “We’ll start at one end of the store and make our way to the other side to get all of your stuff,” he said. “Okay?” 

Hinata nodded, smiling from ear to ear. “Sounds good, Kageyama!” 

Tobio wasn’t sure if he should point out that the two of them were still holding hands. He wasn't sure if he wanted to. Hinata grabbed a basket for his groceries before they left the entrance area, humming that same cheerful tune from earlier as the two of them made their way over to the first aisle of the store. He walked with what seemed like a skip in his step, content to gaze around the grocery store which was, Tobio noticed, unusually empty for a Saturday afternoon. He supposed the place must not have been popular; there might’ve been a larger grocery store nearby, for all Tobio knew; he wasn’t familiar with this part of the city. 

“So, Kageyama,” Hinata started, as he was perusing the shelves upon shelves of different spices the grocery store offered. “How do you know Suga?”

“He was on my volleyball team in high school,” Tobio replied. Hinata’s hand in his made his stomach feel warm in a way he wasn’t familiar with. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, particularly, but it caught him off guard all the same. “You?”

“I played against his volleyball team in high school!” Hinata told him cheerfully, dropping a small bottle into the basket and starting toward the end of the aisle to move on in search of his next item. He gasped suddenly. “Oh! We might’ve played against each other at some point!” 

“I doubt it,” Tobio said immediately, prompting Hinata to turn a confused look over at him. 

“What do you mean?” Hinata asked. 

Tobio floundered. How the hell was he supposed to explain that he would’ve remembered someone as pretty as Hinata? And when did he even start thinking of Hinata as pretty? All of this was severely against his moral code. “I dunno,” he said finally. “I would’ve remembered someone as shrimpy as you.” 

Hinata gasped against, this time sounding offended instead of excited. “Rude! Honestly, I have only ever been nice to you and this is how you treat me.” 

“You broke into my apartment,” Tobio reminded him. 

“Semantics,” Hinata replied dismissively. Tobio imagined him waving his hand in that stupid hand motion of his, were his hands not full of the grocery basket and Tobio’s own.

Tobio rolled his eyes. “You don’t ever seem to pay attention to the important details.” 

“And you only focus on the boring ones,” Hinata replied. “So, we’re even.” 

Tobio rolled his eyes again, electing not to respond. They carried on like that for a short while, existing in comfortable silence. Several aisles passed by before Hinata spoke again, and it was only to ask Tobio’s opinion on a price comparison. It was strange; Tobio didn’t ordinarily feel  _ comfortable  _ existing quietly with someone like he did Hinata. He didn’t like talking, and he almost never started conversations, but he usually found silence so oppressive, as if his companion could hear everything Tobio was thinking and was judging him for it. With Hinata, however, it felt more—comfortable was the only word that Tobio could use to describe it. Perhaps it stemmed from the fact that their relationship couldn’t possibly get worse, or that Tobio couldn’t see himself doing anything  _ more  _ humiliating than Hinata already had; accidentally breaking into someone’s apartment and accidentally punching someone in the face over a head of lettuce and a short joke were pretty much the point of no return, in Tobio’s opinion. Still, something about Hinata put Tobio’s restless mind at ease, to the point where he could simply go grocery sopping with the shorter man, holding hands no less, and feel little to no discomfort. 

Huh. Wasn’t that something? 

“Whatcha thinking about?’ Hinata asked, while he was examining the selection of apples. Tobio blinked himself out of his thoughts and looked down at Hinata. 

“What do you mean?” 

Hinata straightened up slightly, turning to look at Tobio. “You’re thinking so loudly,” he said, reaching up to poke a finger against Tobio’s forehead. The grocery basket came dangerously close to clipping Tobio’s nose, but Tobio couldn’t find it in himself to get annoyed. “I just wanted to know what’s so interesting that you zoned out for more than half of the store.” 

Tobio shrugged, as Hinata reclaimed his hand momentarily to select his apples. “I wasn’t thinking of anything really,” he replied, honestly. “Just that—this is nice.” 

Hinata stiffened slightly, turning to squint up at Tobio. His cheeks seemed flushed, but Tobio chalked it up to a trick of the light; there was no way Hinata would ever return his feelings, especially not after so little time knowing each other. 

“Oh,” Hinata blurted. His voice sounded funny. “I—yeah. I think it’s nice, too.” He turned away, picking the last of the apples, before he grabbed Tobio’s hand again and flashed him a cheeky grin, all of his previous awkwardness gone. “Maybe I’ll have to get myself a new grocery shopping partner.” 

Tobio scoffed and rolled his eyes. “In your dreams, dumbass. I’m not walking this far over a stupid grocery store ever again.” He paused. “Maybe you should just learn to be a functioning adult and do things by yourself for once.” 

“Aw,” Hinata whined, “where’s the fun in that?” 

“It’s not supposed to be fun, dumbass,” Tobio retorted. “Grocery shopping isn’t  _ fun.  _ It’s a necessity.” 

Hinata rolled his eyes. “You’re so  _ boring.” _

“I am not,” Tobio huffed. “You’re just a toddler.” 

Hinata squinted up at him. “Is that short joke? Because I’ll fight you, right here and right now. Don't think I won’t.”

Tobio raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “You are aware that you’re still holding my hand, right?”

Hinata huffed and turned away. He didn’t let go of Tobio’s hand. 

Tobio didn’t count it as a win. Really, he didn't. 

(Okay, maybe he did. But he would deny it until the end of his days, and nobody could prove it, anyway.)

Hinata started toward the cash registers, and Tobio stopped suddenly, tugging on their interlocked hands. Hinata turned to look at him, a curious frown on his face. 

“Why’d you stop?” he asked. “Did I forget something?” 

“No,” Tobio said. “I just thought you liked to look at the bakery stuff.” 

Hinata  _ beamed. “ _ Really? You’ll let me look? Suga never lets me look!” Abruptly, Hinata took off in what was once again bordering on a dead sprint toward the bakery section of the store, dragging Tobio along behind him. Tobio stumbled to a stop, nearly crashing into Hinata’s back, and he opened his mouth to scowl and spit out several creative insults (dumbass, fucking dumbass, fucking idiot, and idiot, respectively), but the look on Hinata’s face cut off anything he might’ve said. 

Hinata looked so  _ happy,  _ and Tobio privately thought to himself that it was a much better look on his face than the childish pout and the offended anger he usually had when he looked at Tobio. Tobio wished he’d never stop smiling. 

“What do you think?” Hinata asked suddenly. Tobio blinked. What had he said? 

“What?” Tobio asked intelligently. 

Hinata giggled. “Maybe  _ you’re  _ the dumbass,” he said. “I asked if you thought chocolate or vanilla cake was better.” 

“Uh,” Tobio hesitated. “Vanilla?” 

“Boo,” Hinata replied. “You really are boring, you know that?” 

“Alright, fine,” Tobio huffed. “If you could get any of the cupcakes in this section right now, which one would it be?” 

Hinata, apparently, did not take the question of a cupcake lightly. He immediately adopted a serious look onto his face, frowning down at the store’s selection of cupcakes. He bent low to get a better look at some of them, before he finally pointed to a chocolate cupcake with dark blue frosting, as well as what looked like two pieces of candy placed on the top to look like eyes. The box was appropriately labeled ‘Monster Cupcake.’ 

Tobio rolled his eyes. “Seriously? That one? You really are a child, you know that?” 

Hinata pouted. “You asked! If you didn’t want to know, you shouldn’t have bothered.” He cast one last glance over his shoulder at the cupcake, a longing expression on his face, before he tugged on Tobio’s hand. “C’mon, let’s go check out so I can take Mr. Grumpy And Mean back to his apartment.” 

Tobio rolled his eyes, and started after Hinata. He paused about halfway toward the check-out line, taking his hand from Hinata’s. “I’ll catch up,” he said. “Meet me outside the store, okay?” 

Hinata squinted at him, frowning, but he finally shrugged and walked away after giving Tobio quick little wave. 

Tobio watched him go for a second before he sighed and shook his head, turning on his heel and returning to the bakery section. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he muttered, picking up the shitty Monster Cupcake Hinata had pointed out only minutes ago. “I can’t fucking believe I’m doing this.”

Suga would be  _ crying  _ if he could see this, he’d be laughing so hard. So would most of Tobio’s other friends, he guessed. Tobio frowned at the thought. He needed better friends. 

Tobio stared down at the Monster Cupcake’s face, frowning at its unblinking candied eyes, before he sighed bitterly and spun on his heel. He started toward the cashiers, hoping that Hinata would be done checking out before Tobio got there. It was bad enough he was doing this to begin with; he didn’t want to fucking  _ spoil the surprise  _ by being too close to orange demon.

Luckily, Tobio spotted Hinata standing outside the store with his bags of groceries by the time he reached the cash register, and the transaction passed quickly. The cupcake was bagged in a brown paper bag, handed back to Tobio, and then he paid and left to rejoin Hinata on the sidewalk. The afternoon sun had turned to evening sunset, painting the sky in streaks of orange and pink. Hinata was tinged in golden hues in the fading sunlight, and Tobio was taken aback at how  _ beautiful  _ he looked, tapping at his phone screen while he waited for Tobio to return. He looked up after a moment, his face splitting into a wide smile at the sight of Tobio. 

“Kageyama!” he cheered. “You’re back! Why’d you leave me? The check-out line was so  _ boring.” _

“Shut up, dumbass,” Tobio huffed. He shoved the paper bag toward Hinata, who stumbled back a step and cast a wary glance at Tobio before he reached up and took the bag from the taller man. He hesitated for a second before he opened it, peering inside. Almost instantly, his face lit up brighter than any sun Tobio had ever seen, bright enough that Tobio thought he could illuminate the whole world. The sun was fading, the street darkening as night fast approached, but Tobio felt like he was standing in the clearest, golden daylight.

“Kageyama!” Hinata exclaimed. “You got me the cupcake! The Monster Cupcake!” He surged forward and wrapped his arms around Tobio’s waist, squeezing tightly. Tobio stiffened, not prepared for the embrace, but he adjusted before Hinata could pull away and wrapped his arms around the other boy in return. The hug was nice; something about Hinata fit so perfectly into Tobio that hugging him felt more natural than breathing. 

Hinata pulled away after a moment longer, still smiling brightly. “Thanks, Kageyama! This more than makes up for the lettuce.”

Tobio huffed a laugh before he could stop himself. Hinata’s eyes sparkled at the sight of it, and he jumped around like an excited bunny rabbit, cheering and pumping his fists. 

“Finally!” he whooped. “You can’t even deny that was a laugh! I’m funny, admit it! Admit it!”

“Shut up,” Tobio muttered, painfully aware of the smile still on his face that just wouldn’t go away. “Dumbass.”

Even Hinata’s infuriating shit-eating grin filled Tobio’s chest with warmth. “You’re a much better grocery shopping buddy than Suga,” he declared. “Suga never buys me cupcakes.”

Tobio rolled his eyes. “Suga knows you don’t need any sugar helping you bounce around all the time.”

“Maybe,” Hinata hummed. He grinned, that shit-eating grin once again, and poked Tobio in the side. “Or maybe you  _ love  _ me.”

Tobio scoffed and captured Hinata’s hand in his own, flicking his knuckles before he accepted one of the bags of groceries Hinata handed him. “Don’t be a dumbass.”

Hinata just laughed, and Tobio thought that he could listen to that sound all day. When did he get to be so soft?

-

Tobio was checking the weather on his phone when there was a knock on the door. He frowned and glanced up, wondering who it could be. As far as he knew, he hadn’t forgotten any plans he’d had with his friends, and he hadn’t ordered anything that would require an in-person delivery. After a beat, whoever it was knocked again, this time letting out a long and loud whine that Tobio recognized. He sighed, and rolled his eyes as Hinata called,  _ “Kageyama,”  _ very loudly on the other side of the door, dragging out the last syllable. “Let me in!

Tobio pulled the door open, glaring down at the orange demon. He was very tempted to slam the door again at the sight of Hinata’s face, but he refrained. “I hate you,” he declared. “What the fuck do you want?”

Hinata huffed. “That’s so rude. Do you greet all your guests that way?”

“No,” Tobio informed him, “Just the unwanted ones.” 

Hinata ignored him, shoving past to walk into the apartment, He made himself comfortable on the couch, grinning up at him. “Let’s hang out!”

Tobio sighed. “Do I have a choice?”

“Nope!” Hinata chirped, already fiddling with the remote for Tobio’s TV. Tobio sighed again and trudged into the kitchen, pulling open the fridge and grabbing two sodas. He made sure Hinata’s was the sugar-free kind before he handed it to him and took his place on the other end of the couch. His attempt at distance proved futile, as Hinata immediately moved over so that he was practically sitting on top of Tobio.

“What do you wanna watch?” Hinata asked, scrolling through Netflix. Tobio wasn’t entirely sure when he’d pulled that up, but he shrugged it off. 

“I don’t give a fuck,” Tobio told him. “Do you even care what I think?” 

“Of course!” Hinata replied. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t.” 

“So, you care about my choice in movies but you don’t care if I actually  _ want  _ you in my apartment?” Tobio asked. 

“Yup!” Hinata chirped, pulling up some stupid movie that looked a lot like an idiotic rom-com Tobio would criticize with Tsukishima. Tobio pulled out his phone, already planning to tune out the majority of the film as its opening sequence started to play. Hinata was quiet for a few minutes, appearing to be enraptured with the movie, before he asked, “Do you wanna play a game?” 

Tobio rolled his eyes. “Make up your mind, dumbass,” he snapped. “Are we watching a movie or playing a game?” 

“Well, I wanted to watch a movie, but you’re not even paying attention!” Hinata huffed. “It’s very rude to text people while you’re hanging out with other people, you know.”

Tobio scoffed, but he put his phone away anyway. “Fine. What game do you wanna play?”

Hinata brightened immediately. “Oh, we can play This is Better Than That!” 

Tobio blinked. “We can play what?” 

“It’s fun!” Hinata replied. “We just go back and forth saying something is better than something else, except it has to be stuff around your apartment!”

Tobio wrinkled his nose. “Pass. I don’t need your dumbass rooting through all of my stuff.” 

Hinta rolled his eyes, but he appeared to acquiesce. “Fine, fine, his royal highness doesn't want me touching his stuff. Whatever. We could play Two Truths and a Lie?”

“Whatever,” Tobio said. “You start.” 

Hinata pouted. “I  _ always  _ start.” Still, he held up his hand and starting listing, counting each item off on his fingers. “Okay, One: I have a little sister. Two: I was a wing spiker in high school. Three: I’ve committed a crime before.” 

“Two,” Tobio said immediately. Hinata looked indignant. 

“Why did you say that so readily?” he demanded. “Do you really have so little faith in me? Is it more believable that I’d commit a crime than play as the ace?” 

“You broke into my apartment, dumbass!” Tobio retorted. Hinata at least had the good sense to look sheepish. 

“Oh, right,” he said, laughing through the words. “I was hoping you’d forget about that.” 

Tobio stared. 

“Anyway!” Hinata said, after several long seconds passed in silence. “Your turn!”

Tobio frowned. “One: I like shiny stuff. Two: Nobody liked me in middle school. 3: I have contemplated murder before.” 

Hinata blinked. “Uh—is it three?”

“No,” Tobio said.

Hinata laughed nervously. “You’ve—actually considered killing someone before?”

Tobio nodded, holding direct eye contact. 

“Suddenly, I don’t feel very safe here anymore,” Hinata said, scooting further away from Tobio on the couch.

Tobio shrugged. “It’s been a while, but I definitely had quite a few plans when I first met you.”

“Mean,” Hinata huffed, sticking out his tongue. 

“You broke into my apartment,” Tobio reminded him, “set my stove on fire, and threw out all of my lettuce. And then you  _ wouldn’t leave. _ ”

Hinata blinked. “Yeah, that’s fair.”

The two of them lapsed into silence for a moment, before Hinata chuckled. “That game didn’t really last long, did it?” 

Tobio hummed in lieu of a verbal response. 

Hinata sighed and sat back against the couch cushions. He had moved closer to Tobio again, close enough that Tobio could reach out and take his hand if he wanted to. Not that he wanted to, of course. There was no way he’d ever want that. 

Cough, cough. 

“Tell me something,” Hinata said, his eyes fixed on a crack in the ceiling tile above him. 

Tobio grunted. “Something about what?” 

“I dunno,” Hinata replied. “Something about you.”

“I’m not a very nice person,” Tobio told him. Hinata snorted, nudging Tobio’s thigh with his knee. 

“Tell me something I  _ don’t  _ know,” he prompted. 

Tobio hesitated. Truthfully, Tobio wasn't a very interesting person; he wasn't sure what he could tell Hinata that the other male wouldn’t turn up his nose at. “I don’t like rain,” he finally said. “Nothing good ever happens in the rain.” 

Hinata leaned his head on Tobio’s shoulder. When had he gotten that close? “You met me in the rain.” 

“Yeah,” Tobio said. 

Hinata poked him in the ribs. “Mean.” 

A beat passed, before Tobio said, “Tell me something about yourself.”

Hinata was quiet for a moment, before he said, “I liked holding your hand when we were at the grocery store.” 

“Me, too,” Tobio confessed.

“The cupcake you gave me tasted better than any cupcake I’ve ever had,” Hinata admitted. “I think it was because I knew it was from you.” 

Tobio didn’t know what to say to that, so he just hummed. Hinata grabbed his hand, interlacing their fingers and tracing small nonsensical shapes onto the back of Tobio’s hand.

Tobio turned his attention the movie that was nearly halfway over by now. He didn’t have a clue what was going on, but—that odd sense of contentment was back now that he was sitting with Hinata, and he found that he didn’t really care about the movie’s plot, anyway. Existing with Hinata, loudly or quietly, happily or angrily, made Tobio feel more at peace than he ever had before. 

Slowly, afraid to disturb the calm atmosphere between the two of them, Tobio lowered his head to rest on top of Hinata’s. Hinata let out a happy noise, squeezing his hand. 

Yeah, this was nice. Tobio wished it didn't have to end. 

-

  
  


“Suga, I think I’m in love,” Tobio declared, slamming open the door to Suga and Daichi’s apartment. Suga glanced up from where he was sitting on the couch beside Daichi, who picked up the remote and paused whatever the two of them were watching. 

“Hi, Kageyama,” Daichi greeted. 

“Hi, Daichi,” Tobio replied. “Suga, I think I’m in love.”

Suga nodded, thinly veiled amusement glittering in his eyes. “So I’ve heard.” He moved over on the couch to make room for Tobio, patting the space next to him invitingly. “Come, sit down, tell Suga about all of your symptoms.” 

Daichi snorted, pressing a kiss to Suga’s forehead before he stood. “I’ll leave you two alone. Kageyama, will you be staying for dinner?” 

“If that’s alright,” Tobio replied. Daichi simply smiled and headed toward the kitchen. 

A few moments passed in silence, before Suga turned to Tobio and asked, “So?”

Tobio hesitated. How to put it into words? “He is the stupidest, most annoying person I’ve ever met,” Tobio told his friend. “I don’t ever wanna live without him.” 

Suga made a vaguely sympathetic noise. “Oh, Kageyama. You’ve got it bad, don’t you?” 

Tobio put his head in his hands, sighing heavily before he peeked up at Suga through the gap in his fingers and declared, “This is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Suga chuckled. “Don’t be dramatic,” he chided. “It’s just love.” 

Tobio whined in response. “He’s so infuriating but I just wanna hold his hand all the time!” he exclaimed. “That doesn't even make  _ sense _ !” 

“I heard you bought him a cupcake,” Suga said. “Certainly a step up from the head of lettuce that got you punched, wouldn’t you say?”

“Ugh,” Tobio groaned. “Don’t remind me. I’m getting soft in my old age.” 

“Shut up, you’re only nineteen,” Suga said, laughing. “I bet that made him happy, all the same.” 

“When he smiles,” Tobio started, “it’s like I’m looking directly into the sun. Which is stupid, because staring at the sun should  _ hurt,  _ but somehow I can’t—”

“Look away?” Suga guessed. His eyes drifted toward the kitchen. “Yeah, I get that.” After a moment passed in silence, Suga asked, “So, what are you gonna do about this?” 

Tobio frowned up at him from where he’d slouched down nearly horizontal on the couch. “I thought we went over this,” he said. “I’m going to wait until it goes away or die. Whichever comes first.” 

Suga shook his head. “If you say so,” he replied. “But, one pining idiot to another? Telling him feels a lot better than hiding. What’s the worst that could happen if you told Hinata how you felt?”

“He could hear me,” Tobio deadpanned.

Suga rolled his eyes. “Be serious, dumbass.”

Tobio shrugged. “I don’t know. He could stop being my friend?” 

“He wouldn’t,” Suga said immediately. “Trust your heart, Kageyama. Believe it or not, it isn’t working against you.” 

Tobio opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment, Daichi cut him off from the kitchen, calling the two of them in for dinner. Suga stood up, patting Tobio’s shoulder as he turned toward the kitchen. 

“Just give it some thought, alright?” he said. “I don’t think it’ll turn out quite as poorly as you think it will.” 

Tobio watched him go. He frowned down at his hands resting in his lap, mulling Suga’s words over in his mind. “Maybe,” he murmured. 

Maybe. 

(Probably not, though.)

-

Tobio huffed as he stumbled into his apartment, shaking out his umbrella and taking off his shoes before he moved toward his bedroom to change clothes. It wasn’t raining hard enough to soak him, but it was enough to dampen his hair and clothes and just generally put him in a bad mood. He didn’t like rain, no matter what Hinata had said the other day when they were hanging out. Tobio yanked his sweatshirt down over his torso before he made his way back out to his living room, flopping unceremoniously onto his couch once he’d made it over there. He pulled out his phone, having forgotten his volleyball in his bedroom. He unlocked his phone, scrolling listlessly through social media until an all-too-familiar commotion coming from his kitchen startled him enough to drop his phone. On his face, too, which only served to worsen his bad mood. 

Rubbing his smarting nose, Tobio rolled off of the couch and grabbed the table lamp as a weapon once more, wandering into his kitchen only to see Hinata, standing in the middle of his kitchen looking rather like a drowned rat. 

Glancing between Hinata, the open window that Tobio  _ definitely  _ hadn’t opened, and the broken latch on said window, Tobio put the pieces together quite easily. “Are you fucking kidding me,” he deadpanned. “Jesus fucking Christ, why the fuck am I in love with such a dumbass?” 

Tobio, upon registering what he’d said, dropped the table lamp and shattered it on his kitchen floor. Hinata stared at him, his expression quite similar to that of a deer in headlights, before he squeaked, “This isn’t my apartment.”

“I’m going to kill you,” Tobio informed him. “Get the fuck out of my apartment.” With that, he spun on his heel and headed back toward the living room, intending to grab his phone and then hole himself up in his room for the next eternity. 

Hinata snapped out of his shocked state at the sight of Tobio’s retreating back, scrambling across the floor on wet sneakers and calling, “Wait, Kageyama! Come back! We have to talk about this!”

“No, we don’t,” Tobio replied, finally having reached his bedroom. He cast one last glance at Hinata before he slammed his bedroom door shut, locking it for good measure.

Hinata, apparently, would not take no for an answer. Banging on Tobio’s door, Hinata cried, “Don’t be a jackass, Kageyama! Get back out her and face me like a man! I’ll break into your other window, don’t think I won’t!”

“I’m gonna kill you!” Tobio hollered back. “Get the fuck out of my apartment, dumbass!” 

“You're going to get noise complaints from your neighbors!” Hinata warned. 

“They already hate me anyway, so I don’t give a fuck!” Tobio retorted. 

“Ha!” Hinata yelled. “I knew it! I knew your neighbors didn’t like you!” 

“Good for you, you were right for the first time in your life,” Tobio drawled. “Now get out of my apartment before I call the cops on your dumbass!”

“Kageyama, come on,” Hinata pleaded. “Don’t be like that. Just fucking talk to me, man.” 

“No.” 

“Seriously?” Hinata asked. “You won’t even hear me out?” 

“Nope,” Tobio replied, digging through his bedside drawer in search of headphones. He was certain he put them in there at some point. 

“Fine,” Hinata replied. “But I’m not leaving, and you’ll have to leave your room at some point.” 

“Actually, I’m going to die in here,” Tobio told him, plugging in his headphones and pulling up his music. He paused, thumb hovering over the ‘play’ button, as he heard Hinata chuckle on the other side of his door. 

“You’re always so grumpy,” Hinata said. His voice sounded small, and tinged with sadness. Tobio didn’t like it. “I just wanted to make you laugh.”

“By breaking into my apartment?” Tobio called back. 

“It seemed funny at the time,” Hinata said.

Tobio snorted. “Dumbass,” he muttered, exhaling softly as he stared down at his phone screen. It’d be so easy to ignore Hinata, to just turn on his music and pretend that orange demon wasn’t on the other side of his door. It’d be so  _ easy,  _ so why couldn’t Tobio just hit  _ play?  _

He knew why. He just didn’t want to admit it to himself. 

Tobio cursed under his breath, unplugging his headphones and tossing them back into the drawer where he’d found them. “Hinata?” he called.

“Yeah?”

Tobio paused. “Why are you still here?” 

“You said you loved me,” Hinata replied. “And then you ran away before I could say it back.” 

Tobio choked on his own tongue. He scrambled to get off his bed, yanking the door open so fast that Hinata toppled backward onto Tobio’s feet. He blinked up at Tobio, as Tobio winced and muttered an apology. Then, before Tobio knew what was happening, Hinata started to laugh, Real, hysterical, shoulder-shaking laughter, his eyes crinkled up at the corners and his smile wider and brighter than any Tobio had ever seen. Tobio couldn’t help it; he started to laugh, too. 

“There’s that laugh I wanted,” Hinata said, once he’d calmed down. He smiled up at Tobio. “You’re so stupid,” he declared. “Why would you run away? Did you really not think I loved you, too?” 

“You didn't give me a reason to think you would,” Tobio pointed out. 

Hinata finally pushed himself to his feet, though his smile didn’t waver. “I took you grocery shopping and watched a movie with you and gave you gifts all the time.”

“You also broke into my apartment,” Tobio reminded him. “Twice. And lit my stove on fire. And punched me in the face.” 

“Semantics,” Hinata dismissed, waving his hand. 

“Pretty fucking important details,” Tobio retorted, but there was a smile tugging at his lips. 

“Yeah,” Hinata said, reaching out to hold Tobio’s hand and tangle their fingers together. His smile was so wide it looked painful. “But you love me.”

“Mm,” Tobio agreed. “Worst decision I’ve ever made.” 

Hinata laughed and stuck out his tongue. “Mean.” 

“Yeah,” Tobio said fondly, reaching up to brush an errant lock of hair out of Hinata’s face. “But you love me.”

Hinata grinned. “Are you gonna kiss me, or what?” 

Tobio snorted, but he leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to the shorter male’s lips all the same. Hinata chased after him when he pulled away, taking his hand out of Tobio’s so that he could cup Tobio’s cheeks. When they finally separated, Hinata was flushed bright red, a blissful smile teasing his lips and a soft look in his eyes. Tobio rolled his eyes at the sight of him. “Dumbass,” he said fondly.

Hinata laughed, and Tobio forgot his hatred of the rain. If rain could bring him something as wonderful as Hinata, could give him a feeling as warm and safe and wonderful as the love in his heart, then rain must not be that bad, after all.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> how did this happen how did i get here,,,
> 
> this was only supposed to be a short one shot to get a feel for the characters and its over 14k wtf
> 
> also i was talking abt this fic to my friend who doesnt watch/read haikyuu and she was like "excellent i know nothing abt these dudes except that theyre gay and play volleyball" and i was like "thats it thats the show" and i wasnt wrong
> 
> anyway this was my first haikyuu fic and i had so much fun writing it so i might write more for this fandom when inspo strikes [eyes emoji] [eyes emoji]
> 
> as usual, check me out on tumblr @acedabi or @fake-charliebrown


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